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Optimal Knee/Leg position for Rover

Hello! I've been riding my rover for a few weeks now, but I'm pretty sure the seat is not positioned properly for my body as I feel like I'm struggling too much. During a stroke, my foot slightly leaves the pedal and my leg is at full extension. I wanted to know about what position my knee is supposed to be in at full extension . I'm under the impression that it should be slightly bent (though it definitely currently isn't), but before I screw myself out of a lot of exercise, I wanted to touch base with folks who knew what they were talking about.

The seat is simple to move forward but I just want to know if that's what I should do.

Comments

I should never be fully extended. A slight bend is good but what is correct for you may take a bit of experimenting. Move the seat forward some and ride for a few days and see how it works. Don't Make frequent changes.

Not to open a can of worms, but was your Rover adjusted near your X-seam? Meaning is the boom pulled in or extended enough so your seat is not directly over the crossbar supports?

Reason for asking is this is how a La Grande, OR bike shop had the Rover set, and it was not even close to being adjusted for me. The good folks in this forum got me fixed up in between working 2 jobs.

Before - boom was fully extended, seat was about as far forward as possible to compensate. Unsafe, was far too forward.

After - boom was adjusted to my legs utilizing a self-measured X-seam & other's input from here. Once adjusted then moved the seat more center, and found a comfortable seat angle. MAJOR difference.

Once THAT was set up, then had adjusted the seat and have been putting on many wonderful miles.

The nearest TT Dealer is Angle Lake Cycles in Angle Lake. And forget having them do any "fitting" there. Dale just hasn't got the time to do it the way it needs to be done. (Yeah, I know, he's a Top 10 dealer and all, but that place is a mess!)

I suggest you move the seat forward about 1/2" or so, then really crank it down hard (to keep it from sliding on you.) and try it there. If this works to keep your feet on the pedals, then get a square u-bolt from any hardware store and put it behind the seat adjustment bracket and lock it down tight to keep the seat from shifting on you.

I know these are supposed to be adjustable, but sliding seats are one of the banes of the Rover design. What might fit you early on in the ride likely won't an hour into it.

pre-invasion had commented that the lizard pix of before and after is the best example i've seen on decent seat positioning - pictures worth a thousand words kinda thing, hope they dont get disappeared.

First check the distance between your heels and the horizontal boom you should have around 1/2-3/4" clearance. If so adjust the seat for a comfortable pedal stroke with slight knee bend at full extension. If not move the boom so you have that clearance and then adjust the seat.

That luggage pack I've had since 1991. Had two originally, Rhode Gear and Jandd. The Rhode Gear pack died a few years ago. These are/were insulated 6-pack packs. This Jandd one has an expandable wedge so one can stuff a jacket inside or if need more room for something.

Squared U bolts with heavy leather spacers in between worked for me. The seat slid forward most the time... and the bike shop I got the Rover from had the seat pieces upside down. They were a bear to get in correctly, but the seat kept sliding. Squared U bolts stopped the wayward seat sliding issue.

Just finished a 4 mile peddle. Had seat more upright tonight. And I kept sliding forward. Prolly same issue wife had before I got the pads. Changed out tubes and the rim liner material this afternoon. Needed help putting rear wheel back on. Glad she was home. Everything worked fine. Chain might need to be tightened some. Seemed like it was sagging ahead of me. Everything saggs at my age. Still miles to go. Oh Buoy!!!!

@FINN58 the whole rear tire change issue is why I switched to a Marathon Plus with a green goop inner tube on the rear. I NEVER want another flat on the rear tire - with the rack, add-on rear derailleur, etc. it was an absolute PITA to change on the trail. So far 150 miles on the Marathon Plus and it still looks brand new.

I run it at 65 pounds of pressure and I get a little suspension action from it.

I bought a two pack of those green barrier strips at LBS. The dust on the pkg makes me think they had been sitting awhile. One went on the back. It was a tough time with the rear. Didn't want to see it happen on a trail. Now I can postpone putting new Marathons on Trike for a lil while. Ordered a seat pad and wedge this am. Hope it will get here this week. The seat clamp under-neath- is the clamp handle meant to betight to the steel frame? Can't push it that far. Haven't tipped Trike on its sideto stand on it, nyet.

To tell the truth, I once used a box end wrench for extra leverage on the seat QR. Broke it. TT replaced it, no questions asked (although Taylor did seem to put subtext in his reply that meant something like "how in God's name did you break it? It's strong!" But he never asked out loud). @chonk you didn't see that ;-)

Use one hand on the opposite nut and back it off until you CAN close the QR against the frame using human "bug-eyed" torque. It should close aligned to the side of the frame (not UNDER the frame!). For each failed attempt, back off the opposite nut 1/4 turn and try again.

Even with all this, and the wedges properly positioned, it's likely that the seat will shift in use. That's why I went with the inner-tube-lined hose clamps. Others have used 2" wide u-bolts. Whatever method you choose, one on each side of the seat clamp should keep everything in place.

As for TT improvements (@chonk) I can only recommend they weld flat bars (front to back direction) perhaps 1" x 5", one on each side of the frame. 3 or 4 holes in them would allow seat location adjustment while ensuring no "slippage". It's an extra step in the welding process, yes, and obviously that would add to the cost of the frame. What can I say, some improvements cost money.

A ratcheting system could work (think cable tie) that would prevent the seat from moving forward. In the back side of the mount have a spring loaded lever to release the ratcheting system. Then have a bolt that goes through the mount and between the ratchet release to prevent accidental release.

quite annoyed with the last rover seat-slip episode, put a 9/16 bolt at top of clamp, 5/16 on bottom which seems to have done the trick. been riding the rambler lately, started to transpose my version of an all-terrain to the rover [wider lower psi tires, no derailleur dragging through the mud, slightly better gear-inch range with patterson and nexus]. have slippage marks on the frame, will be primary mount and if the seat slips, rover gets a bolt through the frame.

Jrobiso2 - break out the visegrips and take the quick release apart. dont think you will concur with the parts department impression of the q-r when applying a bit of elephant torque.

Put my upright bike rear rack on the Rover today. Going to put a stop behind q.r. soon. It marched back after 2 mi today. Moved it back quite a bit. The rack I zip tied to the dual tubes behind the seat. I pull the seat pins and loosen the q.r. And slide seat forward to lower it. It then fits under my cap better and lower. Tried to lift Rover to put on top of cap but that's a no go. It looks to be 55" to the top of cap. Wasn't even close. Maybe some 2x4'sfor a ramp...

Jrbiso2,
I remember pulling 1200 ft.lbs torque on the track sprocket fasteners on an Abrams M-1 tank. The torque wrench handle was about longer than that breaker bar. Occasionally a socket would crack.
On the Rover I'd find the optimum seat position and cross drill a hole through the seat mount and frame and bolt it in place.

per tm 55-1510-508-0604 to torque u-6a beaver prop nut, wrench on same, 4 foot bar, 180 pound man to hang on the end of the bar. guess they got modern when the abrams came out.
maybe better off with the stop plate. nature of the beast - been running slippage marks - is the clamp rotates rather than slides rearward.